Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition Review

Published:07:00Tuesday 14 July 2015

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I was shocked at the direction Capcom had taken the Devil May Cry series when Devil May Cry 4 came out. Famed series protagonist Dante, who is one of my favourite gaming frontmen I might add, is a baddie! I couldn’t believe it but I played on to see where it ended up, I didn’t regret it. I had a great time playing it back in 2008 and I had an even better time playing it this time on PS4 and Xbox One in its Special Edition variety. Yep it’s another remastered release.

You play as Nero who visits an Opera house to listen to your girlfriend perform during a ceremony held by The Order Of the Sword. Things go belly up as Dante bursts in and assassinates Sanctus, the high priest. All hell breaks loose and Nero goes on his own personal manhunt. The story is filled with intrigue; why did Dante assassinate Sanctus? Why did he pick the ceremony to do it? I was gripped from the start. It helped a lot that the voice acting was fabulous too. Dante is his usual cocky self and Nero is just as much with a bit more naivety. Those action scenes....oh my!

Traditional Devil May Cry game-play is sustained throughout, with a difference; Nero’s Demon arm. Nero uses his deformity to his advantage with explosive results by grabbing and slamming enemies left right and centre as well as using it to solve some puzzles within his adventure. Nero also has a large sword and a firearm to dispatch his foes just like his rival (just to make sure they don’t stray too far from the game-play we know and love). With them, he can perform combos and shoot enemies who refuse to get up-close and personal. It’s fast and frantic when it’s hectic and just when things get tedious and samey, the game allows you to upgrade your abilities at the beginning of each mission or using the Divinity Statues within them.

The pacing slows when solving the puzzles scattered throughout. Notable one of which is the Gyroscope ones near the beginning. I found them a drastic change of pace and quite frankly, pants! Luckily though the combat drowns out these parts which by no means keep Devil May Cry 4’s head above water however there is one issue that tugs on the legs, the camera. If you’ve played the early Resident Evil games, you’ll know what to expect. It gets in the way and provides a bigger fight than the many weird and wonderful enemies more often than not.

Well, that’s the game pretty much covered. What things is ‘Special’ in this Special Edition? Obvious things aside such as the ramped up visuals and silky smooth game-play, Lady, Trish and Dante’s brother Vergil are now fully playable, each with their own style of play using their unique weapons of choice. ‘Legendary Dark Knight Mode’ makes its debut which is basically a mega hard mode, one for the pro’s. All costumes and skins are also here. All bonus content introduced in the Special Edition is available straight from the start. This includes; characters, costumes, and various other features. Any content that needed being unlocked in the original game will still need to be unlocked in the same fashion.

Different characters are basically the missions without the cut scenes.

Slow puzzles.

Summary

Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition is a fantastic action adventure game which keeps to the traditional DMC game-play with loads of extras packed in. Nero is a cool alternative protagonist to Dante but he certainly doesn’t top him in any way, which is a good job because the man, the myth, the legend is playable too at certain points during the story. If you haven’t played this the first time around, you’re in for a treat.